favorite movie #45: rumble fish

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #45 - Rumble Fish (1983) - Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay for Rumble Fish with S.E. Hinton while they were filming the adaptation of her first novel, The Outsiders, on location in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Matt Dillon and Diane Lane appeared in both films. But where The Outsiders is an artful, yet faithful adaptation of the popular teen novel, Rumble Fish is truly an experimental film. Filmed almost entirely in black and white, with exaggerated camera angles that suggest everything from Rebel Without A Cause to The Cabinet of Dr, Calgari, Coppola is clearly having fun with the almost mythical tale of former gang leader The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke) and the younger brother who idolizes him, Rusty James (Dillon). The Police's Stewart Copeland provided the soundtrack, which incorporated real street sounds and a tick, tick, ticking rhythmic beat which emphasizes the "time" theme that permeates the movie. Beautiful, atmospheric, a classic.

favorite movie #30: rebel without a cause

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #30 - Rebel Without A Cause (1955) - There are only three movies that James Dean starred in before his tragic death in 1955 in a car crash, but boy, did he leave an impression. A few months ago the kid and I caught Rebel Without A Cause on TCM. I hadn't seen the film in many years, and I was not only surprised by how easily he sucked me right back in to his character Jim Stark's awkward attempts to make his way in the world, but how affected my fourteen year-old daughter was by his performance, too (and Sal Mineo's tragic turn as Plato). We also recently watched Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of S.E Hinton's The Outsiders, which was heavily influenced by this film. The technicolor is amazing too, with Jim's bright blood-red jacket an immediate icon of "dangerous" youth.

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